Air travel with your mobility scooter

You can travel abroad with our Minimo, Zest and Whill product range.

Air travel is becoming more and more popular for mobility scooter owners. Thanks to our Minimo, Zest and Whill family, you can tackle big airports with confidence and commonly drive your scooter or powerchair right up to the plane.

On arrival at your destination, you have the advantage of using your own familiar scooter with no need to hire a product that may not be entirely suitable. This means your independence is maximised whether you are on holiday, visiting family and friends or on a business trip.

However, it is important to plan well in advance of your flight to ensure the experience is positive and seamless. This needs to involve ‘pre-notifying’ the

Special Assistance department of your chosen airline and potentially the airports you intend to use outbound and inbound. By doing this you will also be able to understand what support services are available.

Assistance can be booked with the airline so on arrival the appropriate staff will be prepared and ready to assist you. Your airline will need to know details of your mobility scooter before flying to check it will be accepted on board. So, weeks before you fly, here are a few tips to complete so your journey is seamless and stress free:

Check with the airline and airports

• Talk to your airline well in advance of your holiday so they can arrange special assistance

• Ask your airline to explain the complete transfer process from arriving at the airport to embarkation

• Check the location of the special assistance receptions

• Enquire about fast-track security and special assistance waiting zone when airside

• Ask how and where your scooter will be stored on board an aircraft

• Supply your airline with the specification details they request regarding your scooter – model type, size, weight, battery type etc

• IMPORTANT – check which type of battery they allow on board

• Contact the airports you intend to fly from and land at, to see if any special assistance must be pre-booked

• Research and review accessible parking facilities at the airports.

Checking your scooter before flying

• Make sure your scooter is in full working order or book a service

• Ensure your battery is fully charged and take your charger with you –check it works with different voltages. If not, you may need to purchase a voltage converter

• Locate and photocopy your battery certificate which will have been supplied with your manual

• Contact your insurance company to see if your scooter is covered abroad

Bring to the airport

• Attach a tag (such as our free scooter passport) to your scooter displaying specifications such as battery type, scooter weight and size.

• Attach a print out of the folding instructions for baggage handlers

• A copy of your battery certificate

• Your scooter instruction and specification manual

• Your travel bag – an optional accessory for the Minimo

Additional tips

Tryb4uFly

This service operated by the QEF charity provides information and advice for children and adults with disabilities who are thinking about travelling by air. It provides individual cabin assessments, free information about flying with a disability and hire equipment to help make journeys easier.

Your rights to assistance

According to European Law 1107/2006, you have the right to assistance from the time that you arrive at the airport. This can include getting from a nearby hotel to the terminal entrance. Take time to look at airport maps before you travel so you are familiar with your intended route and can locate the special assistance receptions. Free travel tools

Get in touch with us for a free mobility scooter passport. You can attach to your scooter and it will display all you scooter specifications such as battery type, scooter weight and size.

We can also send you a free flight checklist to help make the whole process more straightforward.

Call one of our friendly experts on FREEPHONE 0800 540 4343 or email at info@tgamobility.co.uk